You probably already do this, but I will mention it just in case. I was having some difficulty with some of my games until I performed an Adaware quarantine on my system. Some of that spyware that everyone accumulates can really screw up your gaming. I eliminated almost all of my "stutters" by eliminating spyware, dataminers, tracking cookies, etc. It is a habit of mine to run AdAware checks almost daily. If you access the internet you WILL get crap on your system unless you use software to prevent it. Funny, I was at my computer dealers shop the other day and he had a screenshot from Adaware showing that a customer had 53,000 forms of spyware on his system!!! He wondered why his computer wasn't working anymore :lol:

I have upgraded my system recently to a p4 3.2 w/hyperthreading. I have been having some crashes to desktop, loss of cmos settings, and "cmos/gpnv checsum bad" issues. My theory is that the new system is butting heads with my ram.

So how does this relate to BFME? Well, in my old, slower system, I never had any in-game movie skipping, but I seem to be experiencing some of that now. If someone would be so kind, I would like some feedback about the opening of BFME. I am specifically refering to when the game selection menu comes up. It immediately starts into the segment containing the Dark Tower...starting at the bridge and panning all the way up to the eye at the top of the tower. As soon as this scene comes up I get 3 or 4 obvious stutters as it seems to be catching up with itself then smooths out for the most part as the camera moves up the tower (with some very minor skips throughout). Can somebody please pay attention next time they play and let me know if they are experiencing this as well? I know this is a minor issue, but it is just one of many that I am experiencing. This just happens to be one that happens everytime. Thanks in advance.

I have been on these forums since the break-up of GoneGold. While I do enjoy these forums and the educated people on them, there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of traffic. Is there any other forums out there with intelligent posts that you would recommend? Thanks.

I am not real experienced at RTS games. I also tend to turtle and therefore got me arse handed to me as well on act 5. I probably replayed the same battle 6 or 7 times, thinking that it was impossible. I decided to change my tactics and become more offensive. I noticed an immediate change in the game at this point. I built enough farms right off the bat in order to keep building replacement troops for those dying in my offensive rushes. After a bit, you can start increasing you armies strengths with upgrades.

When I finally beat that battle, like the previous poster, I made sure to not completely finish the map and maxed out my army before moving on. Now I am at Helms Deep and have taken a break for a couple of days because.....well......im just a little bit scared to jump into that one right now. I know it's going to be a hell of a fight.

In response to the question of why Aragorn can heal units, I believe it's because he is proficient at using herbs to heal people. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the plant on the healing button is Kingsfoil, which was used specifically for healing in the books and movie.

Just wanted to pipe in and say that I think some people aren't getting the full graphical effect. The textures on my machine (GeForce 6800) look very crisp. I remember just staring at many of the textures in amazement, thinking that this was the sharpest textures in a game yet. And yes, there are a lot of "subtle" use of effects that add to the realism...not over the top. However, I was surprised when I put my face right up to the textures and found that it became more blurry (unlike the latest version of FarCry). I was surprised because the textures were so sharp that I just "assumed" they would retain their clarity even at super close up.

Well, now that I have seen some in-game cut scenes, I recognize that many of the screenshots I have seen are from the cut scenes...not the actuall gameplay. So, it looks like we are stuck with the camera angle as is. That's to bad as I would really like to get some horizon shots. Oh, well.

I am enjoying the game more as I progress. I have very little experience with RTS games. I have certainly been experiencing a learning curve here. I know alot of people would appreciate a more complex RTS (based on feedback in the forums), however, I think I would be overwhelmed with any more complexity than this. I mean, on the Moria level, I had difficulty appreciating the action because I was to busy trying to find keys and singling out characters.....complete mayhem. Now that I am becoming more comfortable with the interface, I can relax a bit more and appreciate the eye candy.

One implementation I think would be very helpful is to be able to use a mouse button on a character which would activate your custom grouping. For example, if I had the entire fellowship designated as group number one, I could use a designated mouse button on any of the nine characters to select the entire "Group 1".

Thanks for all the positive feedback on this game. There is no way I would have ever purchased this movie based console port if it wasn't for you guys. I will definately be picking this up before the end of the year. I will let you all know what I think.

How can I tell if the latest patches have been added? If I go into the "Launch Games" menu and right mouse click HalfLife 2 it seems to show a history of my updates. However, the last update it shows is in November. Supposedly there is a new update available that "finally" fixes the sound stuttering problem. Thankfully, I have not been affected by this problem. However, I am concerned that my steam may not be loading the improvements. I have steam turned off because I don't like things running in the background. When I do activate it manually, shouldn't it download the latest goodies?

The cameras are really driving me nuts. I can zoom in and out and can rotate view just fine. What I really want is to be able to tilt the camera more so I can see more of the landscape in the view. I don't like the fact that I can't adjust the angle. However, when I see screen shots, it looks like the angles can be manipulated. Does anyone know how I can do this?

I just fired this baby up but am experiencing a very strange bug. I can only go about 5 minutes into Moria. Unexpectedly, all of my partymembers scream and fall to the ground dead! There is no battle and they are uninjured whien this happens. It's like I pushed a suicide key for the entire party. Very strange. Has happened every time I play!!!

Yes, you type it at the console command prompt by pressing the ~ key. At first the ~ wouldn't bring up the console command prompt. You have to enable the ~ button in the menu. If my memory serves me well it is in the menu for keyboard settings under advanced. If I'm wrong, just look through the menu options and you will find it.

I never had the sound stutter either until just a few days ago.....I am back in the City and all of a sudden the sound is a problem. Does Steam automatically load the patches without any input from the user? If it does, then I am fairly confident that that is what is causing my sudden stuttering. I was playing flawlessly up unit the time of the patch. I will try the console command to disable the correction and see if it makes any difference. It was driving me nuts trying to figure out why the sudden change. I did a spyware check, virus check, tweaked my AGP Aperture settings in Bios, tweaked my graphic card settings, etc. All to no avail. I will let you know what happens with the console command.

One of the main reasons I didn't buy this game was because of all the negative feedback about respawns. My understanding was that if you cleared an area out, then their shouln't be any more spawning. However, a lot of people said that this was broken and that it resulted in way to much respawning. Does anyone know if this has been fixed or improved upon?

This game stands out as an overlooked gem. Kind of had a David Lynch movie feel to me...which, in my opinion, is a good thing. Very strange game. I would love to play it again. Do you know if it has been enhanced in any way. At the time, I remember it being pretty up to date with technology, but that was along time ago. If I had to put a date to it, I would say around 1995?

Hmmm....I hadn't thought of playing as a first timer. I would definately feel a bit lost in regards to the families background. I'm sure it wouldn't be as impactful, especially seeing first hand what kind of destruction the sons caused in the first Myst. On page 2 of the manual, it does give you some background. It is not in depth at all, but it does provide the basic premise. Any newcomer should consider it a must read.

I was somewhat hesitant in purchasing this title. I absolutely loved the original Myst. That game was the reason for purchasing my first CD player back in the day......I believe it was 1994. The game just felt magical to me. It was such a fully realized world with state of the art graphics and sound for its time. My wife and I literally spent almost all waking time with it for 3 or 4 straight days.

The following Myst titles, while having their good points, just didn't capture as much magic for me as the first one. However, I am glad to say that this latest installment has been very impressive and immersive for me. While I was dissapointed to learn that it was "node" movement, rather than free form, don't let that deter you. Each node is absolutely alive. Water flows, plant life blows in the wind, insects are everywhere, animals, birds, steam, smoke, moving clouds, crashing waves and obsessive attention to detail. When I talk about detail, I refer not only to the graphical detail, but also to the environmental nuances such as animal tracks, appropriate wear and tear, and abundance of items that give a "lived in" feeling. When looking at a scene, you can tell a story based on the details included. It is very much a "real" place.

Myst has always ranked high in it's sound quality. Revelation does not dissapoint. The background music is awesome as are the environmental sounds. There are times when I will just stop, look out on an especially beautiful location, and soak in the sounds. My five year old daughter actually said, "I wish we could smell it, Dad". You almost think you can.

I have been very pleased with the puzzles as well. One of my favorite things about the first title was the way they tied the puzzles in with the environment, which, as you explored, would often result in those "A-ha" moments...where everything suddenly makes sense in your mind. I have had those moments here. The puzzles have been challenging, but not overly difficult. I have only used the hint system once due to missing a hard to find object. Which leads me to one minor criticism....there is some pixel hunting. The hand icon reacts a little bit slow and if you are moving it around the screen to fast you may not notice the signal that there is something there.

The story is also good for a change. In fact, I think it is turning out to be the best of the series. If you are a fan of Myst style games then I believe you should definately check this game out. If this isn't your thing, then I don't know if beautifull presentation is going to change anything for you. As an adventure gamer from the very beginning, I am thrilled to finally be playing a solid adventure title that continues to push the boundaries of quality while so many of its competitors remain stuck in mediocraty.

Fighting games are not my forte. However, with PoP:SoT, I really got into the combat and found it challenging, but not overly difficult. I thought the learning curve was just about right. The only time I recall it getting suddenly steep was when I got my ass kicked on the bridge with the waterfalls in the background. This is a title that I am really looking forward to as the last one was very well done. I was concerned about mastering the combat in Sands of Time, but it turned out to be unfounded. BTW. I played with mouse and keyboard. With the new title adding even more combat moves, I find myself having the same concerns....hopefully these will also turn out to be unfounded. Ubisoft has just continued to please me again and again. One of my favorite companies that just keeps putting out solid, high quality games.

Well, I am no longer in denial about GoneGold blinking out of existence. I am relieved at finding you all here. I am hopefull that the community can retain some cohesiveness here or in a resurected form in the near future. I once wrote Rich, telling him how GoneGold felt like the local neighborhood tavern. A place where I could escape amongst all sorts of colorful characters. Though I didn't post all that often, I have certainly become very familiar with many of you. I have so much enjoyed your humour and wit as well as the intelligence and respect shared. I remember my first post and all the welcomes that followed. There was never a game purchased without consulting the forum. Other life choices were also made in conjunction with consulting the members. It's funny, the book I am currently reading, "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell", was purchased due to reading about it on the forum. It truly has been an enjoyable part of my life. Thank You Console Gold for taking us on. I will be following closely to see where all this goes. It blows my mind when I think of all the volumes of information that may have been lost.....especially when you think of the value it could have had 50+ years from now for anyone wanting an unmatchable commentary on the "early years" of computer gaming. It truly was an amazing collection of records. :cry: Thank you all, and here's to the best.

I'm so glad to see some familiar faces again. GoneGold was the only forum that I have been registered with......for 4 years! I hope it gets resurrected, but I'm just glad that I found a place with some of the crew.